‘Right to Know Act’ aims to bring transparency to personal data collection

No matter where you live, your personal information and everything you buy gets tracked, stored and then sold.

John Messina is a part time La Quinta resident who tells us, “In today’s world, you can’t do anything without somebody else…somebody is probably video-ing us right now, or taping us, what we’re doing.”

It’s gone on for years, but now as technology expands, it’s almost unavoidable.

“We avoid the computer as much as we can, but it becomes a necessary evil,” John continues. “We do our banking on there, we do a variety of things on there and yea, sometimes we’re getting cold calls on our cell phones and going well how did you get my number? The numbers are being sold through lists.”

The Right to Know Act, or Assembly Bill 1291, will give you more information about your information.

The bill doesn’t aim to stop anyone from collecting your data, but it would require companies like Facebook to give you access to the data they’re collecting and storing, as well as who they’re sending it to.

It’s not just about know what a company shares, it’s about knowing what a company stores.

The bill requires data collectors to disclose what personal information they have about you, free of charge.

Another valley part-timer, Cathy Freece says, “I think it’s a good idea that if it’s your personal information and it’s your opinions, I think you should be able to see it, yes you need to know where it’s going.”

Access to the information lets you make more informed decisions about where you shop.

Don Jones, ironically, didn’t want to share where he was from. He tells us, “If the people stop shopping at these places because they do it, they don’t like what they do, they should go someplace else.”

A similar law giving Californians the right to know how businesses share information got passed in 2003, but it quickly got outdated.

This new bill looks to modernize that and simplify the process for everyone.